A Versatile Risotto That Sets Sail From the Ports of Asia

THE seafood that so dominates the cuisine of northeastern Italy, notably in Friuli and the Veneto, has an excellent partner in the pinot grigio wines of the region. Among the dishes I like best with pinot grigio are grilled, buttered, pencil-thin razor clams, which I have rarely seen anywhere but Venice.

Linguine sauced with briny clams like little necks would be a fine dish with the wines, especially those that offer a hint of nuttiness, tropical fruit and minerality. Small Ipswich or Maine soft-shell clams steamed in wine would be another fine choice.

I decided on a seafood risotto, but instead of taking it along a classic Italian route, I looked to Southeast Asia for the seasonings and bolstered the broth with coconut milk. I felt that some of the rounder, fuller-bodied wines, like the Livio Felluga and the Bollini, could easily handle this richness.

Lemon grass, ginger and garlic set the flavor profile. I thinned the coconut milk with mild fish stock and sharpened the mixture with lime juice and some nuoc mam fish sauce. The other components were shrimp and fresh mint.

You could vary the dish by tucking rings of calamari, diced sea scallops, steamed mussels (you can use the steaming liquid in place of some of the fish stock), crab meat or lobster into the rice at the last minute. Peas or edamame might also be added. Cilantro could replace the mint. The recipe will serve six as a first course, four as a main dish.

Like pinot grigio, risotto is something of a blank slate. And even when it is taken to a far-flung, exotic destination, there is plenty of room for interpretation.